


See You Soon, Cowboy

by LifeRecently



Category: The Voice (US) RPF
Genre: M/M, Prompt Fic, The Shevine Project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 08:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6462856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeRecently/pseuds/LifeRecently
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam proves on The Voice that he can be a Serious Country Artist. Blake is skeptical.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See You Soon, Cowboy

It’s the last night of The Blinds, Season 10 of The Voice and Adam is settled comfortably in his bright red chair, his leg bouncing up and down and his finger tapping. After so many intense day-long sessions of auditions, most of the judges are exhausted and slightly tuned-out. Christina has had her phone out near constantly during the breaks, Pharrell looks like he’s trying to re-shape an entire fingernail on one of his hands, and Blake has mysteriously disappeared. The last one is the reason that Adam is tap, tap, tapping when he could be getting in a quick snack before the next contestant goes on. Why would Blake leave for such a quick break? Why isn’t anyone else concerned?

Adam leans over his chair to check the door again to the backstage area, before throwing himself backward with a humpf. The auditions have been particularly gruelling this season, and while it is always fun to hear a great voice and have them sign on with a coach, he’s felt particularly defeated by the last few times he was snubbed. Blake was right when he had said it: he did want to secretly pick up a country artist and beat Blake at his own game. Adam knew he was competitive, but Blake always managed to set something off like fire within him. 

It’s signalled that the next contestant is coming out, and Adam watches as Blake comes walking briskly back. Adam tries to make eye-contact and ask the question silently that is on his mind to Blake, but he isn’t able to manage it, and feels even grumpier somehow. He sinks into his seat and listens to the next contestant’s heavy shoes clunk onto the dark stage. 

A guitar starts up strumming and Adam silently groans. It’s clearly country. It’s so totally and completely country. Adam feels the irrational urge to cry. He probably wouldn’t get this one either, and Blake will make his super strong country team like he’s always intended. And this one is good. The man singing has a crooning low tone that Adam has always admired in country singers but has a hard time pulling of himself. Blake hits his button quickly and starts clapping when he turns around. Adam hesitates, knowing the song is about to end. He makes quick eye-contact with Pharrell who raises his eyebrows in return. It isn’t enough for Pharrell, who usually looks for a break in the pattern in one way or another. And Christina usually looks for someone with an impressive range and ability to project, which this singer could have, but isn’t coming out in this song.

The singer plays the last strumming notes on his guitar and Adam feels his hand slamming down on the button in front of him. He blinks in shock as his chair flips around toward the singer.

“No!” Blake screams, pointing at Adam, “No! That was too late! That was totally cheating!”

Adam doesn’t fight his urge to smirk in return. He crosses his arms and looked over the contestant. He is a large-framed man who is certainly in shape, wearing cowboy boots and has a cowboy hat perched on top of his head. He couldn’t be a more country contestant if he tried.

“So, what’s your name and where are you from?” Adam asks curiously.

The contestant looks nervous and brings his microphone up too close to his lips before answering.

“I’m Shane Sheridan, and I’m from Edmond, Oklahoma.”

Adam does groan out loud this time, and can hear Blake cheering from his seat. The crowd erupts in heavy cheering and Adam falls deep into his seat.

“Ohhh, boy,” says Pharrell, from his chair.

“I’ve been to Edmond-” Blake starts, settling comfortably down into his seat, with a big grin on his face. But Adam has had enough of it.

“No!” He cries, standing up and holding his hand up to Blake in clear ‘stop’ gesture, who stops talking and stares at his outburst. The crowd begins to laugh and Adam waits until they’ve settled down to speak again.

“No, no, no, no,” He says, rubbing his face with his hands. “I’m done with this BS. I’m done, Shelton.” He punctuats his last point with a finger jabbed in Blake’s direction. Blake looks back with raised eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. Adam turns back to the contestant.

“I can coach a country artist. We can win together,” He starts, looking beseechingly at the young artist on stage who looked suddenly like he was in way over his head. “My style is not that different from yours, I love playing the guitar, and we could be perfect together, if you gave us a shot.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to propose.” Blake says casually from next to Adam, looking so calm and composed that Adam wants to go over and wrestle him to the floor. The audience cheers in delight at the banter and Adam can hear Pharrell and Christina joining in with the laughter.

“You don’t have any respect for country music,” Blake says challengingly, crossing his arms to mirror Adam. 

“You think this city-slicker knows anything about what we know?” Blake addresss the contestant on stage, who in response looks completely torn and opens and closes his mouth several times.

“See, he agrees.” Blake says, smirking again at Adam and winning more laughter from the audience. Adam remains standing, even though at this point it is somewhat awkward. He turns resolutely to the Shane, the singer from Oklahoma. 

“I love country music.” Adam says in a total deadpan, looking straight at him.

“I believe your words in the past about country music were that it was about nothing but beer, dogs, trucks and cheating spouses.” Blake chimes in, throwing Adam a dangerous grin.

Adam narrows his eyes at him.

“I love those things.” He says again with complete seriousness. The tension is beginning to affect the audience who had settled down and stopped cheering or laughing.

“Prove it,” Blake says, staring into Adam’s eyes from across the row of judges. It didn’t feel like they were talking about music anymore, but Adam wasn’t sure what they were talking about.

“Boys,” Christina says in a low, warning tone, attempting to stop the intense confrontation.

“I will,” Adam says resolutely, having no idea how he would back it up. However, it occurred to him suddenly what he could do and he turns fully to Blake and smiles defiantly.

“I’ll write my own country song and perform it here.” Adam declares, grinning victoriously and making peace-signs at the now cheering audience. 

“What…” Shane, the contestant, starts saying hesitantly from the stage. “What should I do?”

“Well, you’ve gotten yourself in the middle of an Adam/Blake battle,” Pharrell says, sighing and looking at Adam who is now standing on his chair and pumping his fists into the air. “You’re just going to have to hang on for the ride.”

Carson Daily sidles hesitantly onto the stage next to the contestant. The audience quiets down to listen to him.

“The producers have agreed that you have the rest of the day to compose a song and perform it after the last audition. At that point Shane can decide which coach he will pick.” Carson explaines, looking amused.

Adam turns around quickly from his place standing on his chair.

“The rest of the day?” He asks disbelievingly, looking at Blake who was starting to look more confident. Seeing this Adam turns back to Carson.

“No problem.”

 

 

The rest of the audition goes by in a whirl. Adam spends every break writing furiously in his notebook. Blake comes over a few times to get a peek, much to the amusement of the audience that cheers him on. Adam kicks at him with his long legs and at one point chases him around the judges area, whacking away with his book. 

“Time is up!” Carson says, after the last audition. Adam is still at his notebook erasing something quickly. 

“I need wardrobe! I need to look the part!” Adam yells from low in his seat.

Carson rolls his eyes, taking Adam by the arm backstage to get dressed up. Shane ends up wandering back out looking overwhelmed, but happy and more relaxed. Blake smirks and leads him to Adam’s turned chair. 

The lights dim and the judges hear the heavy footsteps of boots on the stage. Christina can’t help but laugh loudly as she hears the southern twang of an acoustic guitar being strummed. The crowd cheers wildly.

“Mmmmm,” A quiet voice starts, and the crowd quiets down.

“I got this can of beer,  
I got you lying here,  
I think that’s everything I need.

It’s Sunday afternoon,  
In hot and muggy June,  
But something inside me wants to plead,”

The pace of the song begins to pick up and Pharell and Shane hit their buttons. A silence has fallen over the audience and judges. Adam has clear control over the song, and his voice is sweet and clean.

“Where are you out there?  
And would you even dare,  
To come to me and make me see  
What we could share?

I got a, a hunting dog,  
But I’m in this fog,  
Man, my truck don’t even make me smile,

I still got her,   
But I’m not so sure,  
She’s what I need tonight,”

This time it’s Christina to push her button, and she quickly claps her hands to her face as she sees Adam on stage. The most intense part of the song is clearly building up as Adam goes at his guitar hard, waiting for Blake to turn around.

“I got a, a country secret,  
Inside of me,  
There’s something yearning,  
For somewhere I can’t be,

There’s someone calling,  
Out to me,”

Blake pushes his button and Adam can see the moment he takes in Adam’s outfit, his cowboy hat tipped low over his face, boots with spurs at the end of skin-tight blue jeans and a simple black shirt that shows off the muscles of Adam’s chest. Adam knows he looks pretty striking and wonders if it affects Blake at all to see him like this. 

The song gets slower again as Adam prepares to sing the final lines, looking in Blake’s eyes as he does.

“It’s you,   
Standing there,  
Beer in hand,  
A muggy afternoon,  
Wanting just the same to be with me.”

The song finishes to a standing ovation from the audience and other judges. Adam realizes slowly what it must have looked like when he directed the whole end of the song to Blake. Or maybe the whole song. As he feels the heat of a blush start on his face, he wonders why he even wrote the song like that. Sure, he had decided to focus on the words Blake had quoted him as saying, which included infidelity, but surely this wouldn’t help the bromance rumors at all. Adam feels for the first time a little self conscious standing on a stage. 

Blake is still sitting, despite everyone else standing up and is staring up at Adam with a strange look on his face. Adam can’t interpret it. Is he upset with him for the tone of the song? They didn’t talk much about him splitting up with Miranda or being with Gwen on the show, but it didn’t mean that’s what it was about. Maybe he should apologize?

“Wow, and a great performance by Adam Levine,” Carson says, coming on stage and swinging an arm over Adam’s shoulder.

“A four-chair turn too,” Carson adds, looking at the judges. Adam almost feels like he’s waiting for a comment from Blake that is similar to his prior ‘I wanted to see what the idiot looked like’ from the last time Adam had done a fake audition. But Blake looks somewhat serious and his expression is far away.

“But you’re not going to be deciding today, Adam,” Carson continues, looking down at Shane. “What do you think, Shane?”

“I have to say,” Shane starts, his southern accent twanging out. “That was something else. I really appreciate the effort you put into that, man. I think, I think I gotta go with you.”

The audience rings out in cheers and Adam, feeling a little off but very proud, runs up to Shane and gives him a big hug. They shake hands as Adam thanks him. Adam follows him backstage, feeling suddenly like he needs to get out of these boots and get some air outside by his trailer. 

He shakes Shane’s hand a final time before wrestling out of his clothes, changing and heading outside. When he gets to the front of his trailer he presses his head against the cool metal of the door, breathing in big gulps of cool air and feeling the tension slipping from his body. He hears footsteps though, and turns around. Blake is standing there, a serious look on his face. Adam feels like he knows what he wants to say.

“Look,” He starts, turning around to face Blake. “Look, I hope you don’t think that song was out of line or something. I wasn’t talking about you. I feel like it might have felt like that. But it wasn’t.” Adam feels like he’s stumbling and talking too fast, like he’s suddenly back in high school and doesn’t know what to say.

“It was stupid, and I shouldn’t have even tried country, you don’t make fun of my music-”

“Stop,” Blake says, and suddenly Adam takes a breath again and calms down a little. “You were good out there. Like, real good.”

Adam smiles in response, feeling more pleased than if anyone else had said the same thing, and wanting suddenly to hug Blake like they always did. He always feels like he wants to be a little bit closed to the other man.

“And don’t apologize,” Blake continues, coming over to clap a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “I didn’t think you were singing about that.”

Blake pauses and looks at Adam closely, separated only by the arm connecting them.

“What were you singing about?” Blake asks carefully, tightening his grip on Adam’s shoulder.

Adam can feel the heat from his large hand and he flounders for answer. He opens his mouth and then closes it. He laughs uneasily. 

“Honestly, I don’t know.” He finally says, somehow feeling like he’s lying. Blake frowns in response and removes his hand. 

Blake turns and leans heavily on Adam’s trailer, staring off into the distance.

“Sometimes,” He says, not looking at Adam. “I write a song and something comes out from inside of me that I didn’t even know was there”

“Yeah,” Adam says, turning like Blake and looking out at the clear Fall sky. “That might be what it is. Maybe I’ll figure it out one day.”

Blake looks at him and smiles, and Adam wishes that every exchange of theirs could end with the kind of hug Blake does where he lifts Adam off the ground, and everything feels right and safe. But Blake just pushes off the trailer and walks away. Adam turns himself and opens the door to his trailer.

“Oh, and Adam?” Blake says, looking over his shoulder at him and waiting for Adam to look. “You looked damn fine in that getup.” 

Blake turns around without waiting for a response and goes back to his trailer. Adam feels the heat on his face from earlier return with a vengeance. He slams the door to his trailer and pushed his face into the pillows on his couch. Oh yeah, he’ll figure this out one day.


End file.
